"We May Be Through With The Past, But The Past Ain't Through With Us"

That is probably my all time favorite quote. One used by P.T. Anderson in Magnolia. It poses an interesting question. It also brings up the great debate if a particular person is responsible for actions or if the blame lays in the past and all the other elements that make it up such as other people, events or circumstances. However, how should a person handle events from a person's past when they could possibly affect the future? When the past keeps creeping into the present and future, how can progress be attained? Case in point, is it possible to build a new and stable relationship if one of the partners has an ex that is still in he picture? Not that they are together anymore but that other person, whether through insults or the hope of building a "friendship" once again, is still functioning as the many times invisible third person within a relationship.

Any thoughts? My vote is for three is a crowd. Someone needs to bow out gracefully as The Spinners put it.